Sinking Ships into the Sea
by mischief-and-serenity
Summary: Set during episode 4x08: Dyson doesn't like seeing Kenzi with Hale. Kenzi can't get Dyson off of her mind. Jealousy, romance, sexual tension you could cut with a knife. Not to mention the Shadow Thief training. Things about to change in the fae-verse for our favorite friends.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, I'd have Dyson handwashing my dishes naked right now.

This is set during episode 4x08. I will occasionally flash back to times set between the Third Season finale and 4x01.

This story came into my head when I kept seeing Kenzi's reaction to the crazy things Hale was saying. She just did NOT look like a woman who's world was being rocked. This is completely Denzi, with slight Kale. But Denzi is endgame. My OTP. It may take a bit to get deep into it, but it will get there, and it will be rated M for lemons when it does!

I may have smudged up the timeline of events during this episode to make it work in my favor. Sorry for any errors, no beta. I love you guys! Enjoy!  
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Dyson gritted his teeth as Kenzi disappeared up the stairs, throwing an excited smile and a saucy wink over her shoulder as she pushed Hale up the stairs to her bedroom in the attic. The bass was pumping loudly in his sensitive ears, guests were milling around laughing loudly. To his right, Lauren was popping the top on her... third beer? Possibly her fourth. On her other side, Trick was regaling her with stories of his youth.

The night had started out great, Bo sleeping soundly out in the car as Kenzi begged them to let her get some much needed rest, the rest of the gang laughing away swapping stories and teasing each other. Kenzi was in rare form tonight too. She had an extra little twinkle in her eye and a secretive smile ghosting her lips. And the longer the party went on the more PDA his partner and her engaged in; teasing glances, whispering in each other ears, _biting_ each others ears.

The initial kiss they had exchanged made something tighten in his chest. He hadn't been able to put his finger on the _why _as of yet. Hale had mentioned that Kenzi and him had finally gotten together, however, this was the first time he was seeing them up close and personal. At first he was just thrown seeing his two best friends express themselves so publically. But as it continued, Dyson realized he was holding his breath. Not to mention his grip around his cup had tightened more than necessary. Thankfully, Lauren cleared her throat to interrupt them just as words of protest came to the tip of his tongue.

He shouldn't be feeling this way. He should be happy; his best friend and his... his... _Kenzi_ were finally together. And about to get together in a whole new way. Hell, he had basically pushed Kenzi right into Hale's arms by pushing Hale to admit to his feelings for her. But the last few weeks, he couldn't help but to think... _what if?_

Since getting Bo back things had changed between him and Kenzi, it was a tangible feeling in the air, a tension that was impossible for him to ignore. They had spent weeks together, basically inseparable. With no knowledge of Bo and their star-crossed love he had felt... _lighter._ The attraction he had felt towards Kenzi was always there in that alternate universe. With no Bo, it was as though blinders had been lifted. Kenzi was, _is_ a force to be reckoned with. Her stubbornness and bravery, her optimism and wit, not to mention eyes that could cut through a man, and lips that made you want to beg, and her _hips..._

Dyson adjusted himself discreetly under the table. There were nights were his mind ran on an endless loop of Kensi. The curve of her waist and the flare of her hips were a new form of torment for Dyson.

Having Bo back was a gift. He was not complete without her. She held a piece of his heart that he would never get back. But he was also tired of sharing her with the world, tired of feeling _used_ by her. The last time they had been together, her not being able to look at him, using her fae strength against him to shut him up... It wasn't something that he was able to get out of his mind. And now with her dark powers growing stronger it seemed, he wasn't sure that he would ever get back the succubus he had fallen for.

The truth of the matter was.. He _missed _Kenzi. Silly, fragile, _human_ Kenzi. And watching her bring Hale up to her room to "get groiny" as Kenz would say, made him want to growl in jealousy. It also made him feel guilty. For many reasons; he felt like he was betraying Bo for his newfound attraction? Lust? He also wanted Kenzi to be happy. She deserved to be happy with someone that would take care of her and protect her, and Hale would certainly do that.

Hale. Reason number three for Dyson to feel like a scolded puppy. Hale was his best friend. After the haze of the memory tampering had lifted, Dyson and Kenzi had decided not to mention to Bo or Hale about their kiss. That guilt fueled Dyson to push Hale to confess his feelings for Kenzi. If Hale knew that Dyson had pursued Kenzi behind his back he would never forgive Dyson. Not to mention the fact that they had lied to him. Or the fact that Dyson couldn't stop dreaming about Kenzi. Or thinking about the fact that she was the one who noticed he was off after he traded his love for Bo's safety. How she fought the Norn for his love. Got herself infected with a fae and almost died for him. How she went back to save him from the Garuda's thugs. How she infiltrated the Una Mens to rescue him from execution. She was constantly surprising him, and the more she did, the further under his skin she burrowed.

He found himself wanting her more with each breath she took. He listened to each footfall on the stairs until he knew they had reached her room. He listened to the giggling, and the creak of the door closing and the 'snick' of the lock turning.

"Dyson?" Lauren called. "Dyson! Still with us?"

Dyson looked up to see a flush faced Lauren and a glassy-eyed Trick looking at him unexpectedly from across the kitchen island. Lauren held a bottle of Kenzi's favorite vodka in her hands.

"Sorry," he smiled, shaking off his melancholia. "What was that?"

"I asked if you wanted to join in on shots?" Lauren asked, extending and shot glass filled with clear liquid.

Glancing back at the stairs leading up to Kenzi's room, Dyson nodded before turning back to Lauren. "Make it two," he growled.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, I'd have Dyson hand washing my dishes naked right now.

Something was _off_. Call it her "Kenzi Sense" or whatever but something just wasn't right here. The whole situation with Hale, it all just felt... _wrong_.

"Kenzi and Hale. Take sixty-seven." Hale muttered, before closing his eyes and puckering his lips for Kenzi.

_There it was again_, Kenzi thought, _that ugly feeling in her chest. _

She had a bad feeling that she knew what it was, too. Staring at Hale, lips puckered waiting on her, Kenzi admitted it to herself. _She didn't want to kiss Hale. _She didn't want to do _anything _with Hale. The passion just wasn't there.

She cared about Hale so much. And sometimes she had thought to herself that it could be more. Sometimes she was even attracted to him, though it had felt a little more forced than she was comfortable with. She knew she needed a minute to think. A minute to herself before she made any decisions she would regret later.

"You know what," she exclaimed, patting him on the leg before jumping up off of the bed. "I'm going to go freshen up the Kenz."

Without looking back, she walked briskly to the stairs and descended them as quickly as she could and didn't slow her pace until she reached the safety of the bathroom.

"Crap, crap, crap." She muttered to herself, closing the door and locking it behind her. She rested her back against it and let her head thump back. _Now what?_ She thought.

With a deep breath, Kenzi walked to the mirror above the sink. She stared at her reflection as she organized her thoughts. She had known that she was confused even when she and Hale had kissed after opera singer fae, Ianka, had died. She had told Bo as much when she had admitted to kissing Dyson. All of her thoughts and emotions were just all jumbled up. Guilt for kissing Dyson behind Hale's back, something he still wasn't aware of. And then remembering Bo, and dealing with the guilt of kissing Dyson behind _her_ back, though she couldn't have known she was hurting her then.

And all of those emotions she had felt for Dyson during that time, that raw..._hunger _she had felt for him. It all confused her feelings for Hale. There was no question of whether she had wanted Dyson then. They were best friends. He had all of this misguided faith in her and he always trusted her and reminded her that she was so much more than the weak, little human she felt like. And _Goddess Above_ that man was sex walking.

When Hale had opened up to her about his feelings for her, she was torn in so many different directions. Then later, all of the adrenaline and emotions of surviving Ianka, and Hale being okay, she had just been so _relieved_, kissing him back was the only thing she could think to do.

But later...

She had tried talking to Bo about what she was feeling, she really had. But then with D-Wolf getting captured by the Una Mens and sentenced to an execution, all of her troubles had gone on the back burner.

Dyson needed _her._ She was the only one who could infiltrate the Una Mens lair and get him back. Of course, on par for her course, she had managed to screw that up too. Though she did manage to get the inside scoop on a little piece of Dyson's past, which meant a lot to Kenzi. Dyson didn't open up about his past much, so when he did, it was special.

And he had given the shoe to Angel. Which according to Bo had been Kenzi in his subconscious. She didn't like to dwell too much on the giddy feeling in her chest that thought gave her.

Bringing her thoughts back to Hale sitting on her bed waiting for her, Kenzi's chest tightened. She was confused, she didn't want to hurt Hale, but at the same time, the thought of going back up to her room and finishing what they had stated made her squirm. And not in the good way.

Not to say the kissing hadn't been nice. It had been. But Kenzi didn't want nice. She wanted passion and heat. She wanted...

A flash of Dyson's hands cradling her face softly as they kissed passed through her mind. The same hands running down her back and pulling her body tightly against his. His low growl that she felt against her chest as the passion bloomed. The instant heat and throbbing that shot to her core when she felt him hard against her. The gasp she drew from him when he gripped her butt and pulled her against his hardness, her hips twisting against him perfectly, just before he broke off the kiss.

"Shit," Kenzi echoed, looking at her flushed cheeks in the mirror. She shut her eyes to block out the wanton expression on her face. She concentrated on slowing her heart rate, stopping the throbbing that had begun in her core. Her body was more than ready for a hard body, when minutes ago was not.

Kenzi took a deep breath. She needed Bo. She needed her bestie so that she could talk. Try, in some way, to explain the confusion going on in her mind. Hopefully without bringing her sudden obsession with Dyson into the talk.

Standing up straight and steeling herself for what was about to go down, Kenzi wiped her fingers around her lips, fixing her lip-gloss. She smoothed her hair along her shoulders, adjusted her bangs and unlocked the door.

"Bo? Bobo?!" Kenzi yelled, walking through the first floor of the crack shack. She had been walking around calling Bo's name for a few minutes with no sight of her succu-bestie. In fact, she didn't see any of the scooby gang.

"Where the hell is everyone?" She shouted in frustration as she stomped back up the stairs.

"Bobo, are you in here?" She called as she swung open Bo's bedroom door, only to find Dyson propped up against the headboard, half asleep on Bo's bed. She smiled ruefully at the wolf and shook her head. "Hey D-Man."

Dyson lifted his head smiled "Kenzi! What are you doing in here?"

She walked over to the other side of the bed and stretched out on top of the covers, avoiding the box sitting at the foot of the bed and the question. "I'm here." She rolled onto her side and rested her head on her best hand. "Where is everyone? Lauren, Trick, Vex?"

Dyson laughed heartily, dropping his head back onto the stack of pillows between him and the headboard. "In surgery."

"Surgery?!" She yelled, sitting up. "Who's hurt?" The blood drained out of her face as her heart missed a beat. "Bo?" She gasped. "Is that why I haven't seen her? Why didn't anyone find me?!" Kenzi gasped as she swung her legs off the bed, her eyes beginning to burn. "Where is she?"

Dyson frowned and sat up, the fog clearing from his mind. "No, no, Kenz." He grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to sit. "Lauren's re-attaching Vex's hand." He explained, rubbing up and down her arms to calm her. "I'm sure Bo's fine. She's around here somewhere."

A gush of breath left Kenzi that she didn't realize she was holding. She crossed her legs and sat Indian style in front of Dyson, letting him soothe her. "Thank god." She breathed.

Kenzi slowed her breathing and waited for her nerves to settle. She looked around the room noticing the half a dozen beer bottles and the shot glasses, an almost empty bottle of her favorite vodka lying on the bedside table and found herself smiling.

"Getting your drink on without me, Wolfy?"

She reached for the remaining vodka and poured it into the closest shot glass before tossing it back with one big gulp. "Ahh," she smiled.

Dyson felt that tightening in his chest again, the same one he had felt as he watched her go up the stairs with Hale a little while ago. "I would have asked you to join me but I think you were a little busy." He raised his eyebrow suggestively.

Kenzi blushed. "Right."

Dyson reached to the side of the bed and grabbed a lukewarm, half full beer. "Why are you looking for Bo, by the way? Shouldn't you be with Hale right now?" He tried to sound casual. "Finished already?" He teased.

"No!"She laughed, reaching over and swatting his arm. "I just was just freshening up." She said daintily.

"You look plenty fresh to me." He took a deep breath, a mixture of light floral of Kenzi, the spicy incense Bo liked to light, stale beer and liquor and... Dyson felt his pants tighten and his eyes grow heavier even as his stomach turned. She had been aroused, _very recently_. And considering whom she had just been with, he couldn't help but to imagine flashes and Kenzi and Hale, twisted together, his hands on her body, his mouth... Dyson blinked, hard, trying to shake that jealous feeling in his chest. "Smell's like it too." He said lowly.

Kenzi's eyes widened in embarrassment, even as her jaw dropped in shock. "Bad dog!" She yelled, punching him in the shoulder, and again just for good measure. "That's just gross! Keep that nose away from me!"

Dyson couldn't help but laugh at Kenzi's feeble attempts at hurting him. She was just so... _cute._ Though he would never live to see another day if he admitted that to her. He put his hands up in surrender.

"My apologies, I'll try not to breathe from my nose from now on." He teased.

"Good," she said lightly.

She looked down at her hands in her lap, fiddling with her nail beds as the silence grew uncomfortable.

"Hey," he pulled her hands out of her lap and held them with one hand, forcing her to look up at him. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

Kenzi bit her lip, hesitating. Dyson was Hale's best friend. She couldn't talk to him and put him in the middle of the situation. He also was a part of the problem... Then again, Bo was missing, and she _did_ really need to figure out what she was going to do with the siren in her room.

"What is it?" He questioned. "I promise, you can tell me. I won't say a word to anyone, if you don't want me to."

Kenzi took a deep breath. "I think I might have made a mistake."

Dyson's brows furrowed deeper, "With?"

She looked back down at her hands. Dyson's clasped around hers, his thumb rubbing the back of her hands softly. She couldn't think with him this close, touching her, sitting in bed with him. She got up and began pacing, looking only at the walls.

"Okay," Dyson said, "I think this is officially the longest you ever gone without speaking." She shot him a dirty look and flipped the bird at him quickly as she continued pacing. "Kenz," Dyson growled.

"Okay, okay," she huffed. "Don't get your fur in a twist." She looked at him quickly before looking away. "I think I made a mistake getting together with Hale."

Dyson's mouth opened, before closing. He opened it again but words wouldn't come. How many drinks had he had?

"You seemed so happy a little while ago, dragging him up to your room," he reminded her.

"I know!" she moaned pitifully. "I thought I was happy, I really did. But I've been so confused about things lately, and my mind is a mess. But I thought, 'This is the way things should be, Kenz. You and Hale, it makes sense. So what if he doesn't make you feel like a shooting star when he kisses you? That's okay. Sometimes it takes a little while.'" She rambled, pacing faster. "I even told myself that I'm just stressed out about this whole 'human hunting' thing going on." She glanced at him, hands flying as she talked.

"But Dyson," she stopped walking suddenly, looking him straight in the eyes, her hands falling to her sides. Dyson felt his chest tighten in anticipation, of what, he wasn't sure. He was still trying to process the words coming out of her mouth. He waited patiently for her to organize her thoughts.

"I just don't love him like that," she said finally. She took a deep breath in waiting for him to speak now. She fiddled with her hands nervously before settling them on her hips to keep from fidgeting.

For a long moment, Dyson just stared at her. Finally, he looked towards the bed next to where he was seated and patted the empty space next to him and few times before looking up to her. She glanced at the spot next to him questioningly. He simply raised his eyebrow at her expectantly and patted the space again.

She scowled at him anxiously and stomped over and sat next to him. Shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, knee to knee, they sat, sides pressed together tightly. Dyson wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze as she looked up at him. He smiled reassuringly at her and she smiled back sadly.

"It's all going to be okay, Kenz. You'll figure it out."

"He's sitting in my room up there right now." She explained, "He's waiting for me to come back so that we can make sweet lovin', and I... I can't do that Dys."

"Okay," he said. "So you go up there and tell him you're not ready. That you need some more time. He'll understand." He rubbed her arms reassuringly as she leaned her head against his chest. Dyson swallowed. He liked how she felt there, her head fitting perfectly beneath his chin.

"You think?" She mumbled.

He smoothed down her hair comfortingly. "I know." She looked up at him with a small smile. "And if he doesn't, I'll kick his ass for you."

"Okay," She sighed heavily. "I'll go talk to him in a minute. Can we just sit here for just a bit?" She looked up at him with her big blue eyes wide and innocent. "You give pretty good hugs Wolf-Man."

He smiled at her as he breathed out a small laugh. "Sure thing, come here for a minute." He scooted back to the headboard and fixed the pillows against it. Then he leaned back against it and opened his arms.

Kenzi giggled lightly as she crawled on all fours up the bed to Dyson, curling her body into his side and resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. He squeezed her tighter against him and rested his head on top of hers, inhaling her scent deeply as he closed his eyes.

Kenzi gently lifted her head off Dyson's shoulder so that she wouldn't disturb him. A few minutes ago his head rolled back gently to rest back on the pillow propped behind him. His eyes closed softly as he breathed slow and deep in slumber.

She thought that she had heard Bo calling her name before she heard footsteps going up the stairs to her room. She gently pulled Dyson's arms from around her waist before rolling to the side quietly. She placed his arm back around his own stomach and tugged the throw blanket off the end of the bed and put it around him softly.

"Kenz," he muttered in his sleep.

She stared at him for a few seconds before walking towards the door to find Bo. As she approached her room, she overheard Hale and her talking, whatever it was, Bo sounded upset. She slowed her steps and walked in the room quietly overhearing everything.

"Stay calm, okay. Well the one thing we have on our side is time." Hale said

"God, Hale, why would you put yourself through this voluntarily?" Bo demanded. With his guilty shrug, she realized. "Wait... you and Kenzi?! God, that's just skeevy!" She punched him on the arm.

"Oh-okay, look," Hale said. "It's the opposite of skeevy. I had a chance to perfect my game, so to speak. I swear I was going to tell her."

"I-I think you just did." Bo said quietly, staring over his shoulder at her best friend who looked as though she was going to be sick.

Kenzi felt her stomach drop. Had her decision to not sleep with Hale already been taken from her? And how many times? She felt violated, and... skeeved out! How could he keep this from her? Why would he keep this from her? To keep getting laid? That was... just ew! She had to get out of there, pronto.

"Who's the Yule fool now, huh?" She said condescendingly, pointing to herself as she walked out of the room.

"Kenzi, wait!" Hale yelled over her shoulder.

Kenzi went back to the bathroom and washed her face but it didn't help. She felt dirty, and what she really wanted was a shower. Turned the knob for hot water, Kenzi waited for it to heat up. To make herself feel better, she settled for imagining how angry Dyson would be when he found out Hale had been taking advantage of the.. time loop, was it? To get into her pants. Sixty-seven times, apparently.

She tied her hair up into a high bun and stepped into the hot spray to let the water take her pain away.

Hale found her later, lying on her bed, trying not to get too upset.

"Came to stuff my stocking with your Yule log again, stud?"

"I'm so sorry, little mama. I was stupid." He said, sitting down.

She took a deep breath before steeling herself. "So many times did we, uh..."

"No," Hale said quickly. "Not once, I swear. I mean, we came close a couple of times but we never uh-"

"Connected," Kenzi finished with an inner sigh of relief.

"Look, I just wanted to make this night perfect. You know?" He looked at her hopefully, looking for some sort of understanding or forgiveness.

Kenzi swallowed and sat up next to him stiffly. "Hale, you and I... We're not ever going to be perfect."

She looked at him, hoping he would understand what she was trying to say.

"What do you mean?"

She looked at her fidgeting hands. "Earlier tonight, when we were..." She searched for the right word.

"About to connect?" he supplied with a smile.

"Right," she cleared her throat and began again. "When we were trying to 'connect', it wasn't working for me."

His face fell. "I kind of got that feeling the first sixty-six times."

"It shouldn't be that hard, you know?" She put her hand on his knee, turning to face him. "I think we need to take a step back from each other for a bit. Maybe put a pause on all of this for a while?"

"Is that what you want?" Hale asked.

"Yeah," she mumbled quietly. "It is."

Hale nodded for a few moments before standing up and walking towards the stairs. "I'm not giving up, little mama." He announced. "I'll give you your space, slow things down, but I am going to win your heart."

With that he left, leaving Kenzi feeling as confused as ever.

Later on, after everyone had left and Bo had just returned, Kenzi went to go check on Dyson. She smiled at him from the doorway. He was just as she left him. She reached out to close the door when the box at the end of the bed caught her attention again. She walked over and looked at it. It had Bo's name on it. Maybe it was a present from Dyson?

Kenzi picked it up and tucked it under her arm. Then, on impulse she leaned over and kissed Dyson's nose, just as she had done once before. Watching one side of his mouth curl up slightly she whispered, "when you know, you know right?"

Her heart sped up slightly. She wasn't sure what had made her do that, and she wanted get out of there before Bo came looking for them. Walking briskly to the door, a quiet whisper stopped her in her tracks.

"Kenzi."

Turning around, she watched his eyes flutter in his sleep as he rolled over onto his side reaching out to the space Kenzi had occupied earlier.

She left the room quickly, still carrying the box, before she could do something stupid.

Like the crawl back into his arms and never leave, kind of stupid.


	3. Chapter 3 Pt I

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Dyson would be hand-washing my dishes naked right now.**

Author's Note: And the Shadow Thief training begins! Sorry for any grammatically errors! I'm about to leave for a wedding and I wanted to get the first half of the chapter posted! More will be posted hopefully tomorrow!

Enjoy!

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_Sweet baby jesus,_ Kenzi thought, swallowing hard.

Dyson was across the loft from her, sweat dripping down his naked back as he pounded the punching bag in front of him. His shiny muscles rippled under the florescent lights with each twist of his upper body.

She was tempted to call out to him to let him know that she had arrived for their training session, but after the week she had, she figured she deserved this little treat. But after just a few more punches, Dyson stopped his thrusting and began to settle the bag. Kenzi rushed into action, stepping a little louder than she normally would towards him.

"Hey D-Man, I'm ready to get my training on!" She said with excitement, taking punches at the air.

Dyson turned towards her with a grin on his face. He had heard Kenzi come in a few minutes ago, wolf senses and all. He had to admit though, knowing that Kenzi was watching him, and enjoying her warm scent of satisfaction, gave him quite the rush. It seemed as though she was not as impervious to her attraction for him as he had thought.

Grabbing the towel that hung over the pull-up bar, he wiped his face and neck, before running it down his chest and stomach, eyes on Kenzi as he did. Watching her pupil dilate and her air-punching falter, his grin growing, he finally settled the towel around his neck and walked over to her.

He felt a growl of appreciation begin in his chest as he took her in. She was dressed down in work out clothes. Or, as "down" as Kenzi ever really got. She wore a loose dark purple tank with a big black heart on it over a black sports bra, 75% of which was visible under the loose top. She also wore painted on calf-length black yoga pants and black sneakers. And wouldn't you know it, her shoes had no heel for once. She had also french braided her hair back into two loose braids, her bangs styled back so that her eyes were free. She also had very little makeup on giving her face a much softer look to it. It was an interesting look for her, and while he liked the soft, feminine look of her, he also had grown to love the harder, punk look she preferred. Not that he wasn't going to enjoy the hell out of her yoga pants though.

"Kenz," he purred in greeting. "You look good."

Kenzi blushed and gave his arm a friendly punch, in gratitude of course, and let her 'borrowed' gym bag drop off her shoulder to the floor.

When she saw the name WOLF MAN flash on the screen of her phone last night her stomach had done a funny little flip. 'Training tomorrow at my place, 10:00 AM' it had read. She replied instantly with several texts for more information but all he would reply was 'Be ready to sweat'. _Yeah_, she had thought, _because that didn't make her want to hump him_.

"Well, I wouldn't want to sweat on Jimmy Choo."

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

He walked over to his kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, finishing half of it in a few long swallows. Kenzi studied the way his throat moved in a daze.

"Uhh," She mumbled coherently, tearing her eyes off of him and looking around his place. "Me, nervous? Never."

Because his place was a studio style loft, everything was visible, from his glass shower and bathroom area, to the work out area with his punching bag, mats and other equipment to the left by his couches, and then his bed along the wall, covers still a little rumpled from sleep. The steel gray, almost blue, satin duvet looked soft and inviting, along with his dark gray sheets. She flushed as she imagined him stripping naked and stretching out along that bed, ready and waiting. _Down girl_, she reminded herself, bringing her eyes back to his kitchen where they stood. It was a man-cave here for sure.

"You sure about that?" Dyson asked, eyes staring her down. "Your pulse is racing." He heard it loud in his ears, getting louder by the moment, pupils still dilated wide. He fought the urge to growl and push her against the countertop she leaned her arms on, to give her heart something to really pound over. He wanted to crush his lips against hers, full and inviting, parted slightly. To thrust his tongue into her mouth and tangle it up with hers. He wanted to nibble on her lower lip and hear her gasp his name. Then he wanted to bite his way down her neck and hear how her heart beat then.

She shivered under his fiery gaze. His jaw clenched as he took a step towards her with purpose. She took a step back, almost tripping over her gym bag, and he paused reminding himself. She wasn't ready, and she and Hale had just called it quits a few days ago. He needed to be there for her as a friend for now, and when she was ready, he would make it clear that there was no backing down.

He gripped her upper arms and settled her slightly, giving her a smile to ease the tension.

"You don't need to be nervous." He told her, tugging on one of her braids. "We're going to take this slowly."

Her eyes widened at his words. "Take this slowly?"

"Training."

"Ah," she cleared her throat. "So what first? Do I do five hundred push ups, run ten miles, throw some daggers?"

He laughed as he lead her over to the punching bag again and reached down to grab the wife-beater tank he had left there. "First things first," he said as he tugged it on.

Swallowing, she met him by the mats. And sat down Indian style in front of him when he sat in a similar position.

"Shadow Thieves are just as old as fae." He told her. "Just as Fae are as old as time, as are the Shadow Dwellers."

"Shadow dwellers?" she scoffed. "We call those peeping toms here, Wolfy. Or Uncle Vladimir if you know my family."

He smiled. "Shadow dwellers are humans who have learned to manipulate the realms." At her confused stare he continued. "When Fae first were revealed, humans grew afraid. they knew that they needed to adapt to change or they could fall below the food chain and become extinct. As it was, Fae were breeding with humans more and more, creating a mixed race. Humans needed something better to protect themselves. The monks were the first to discover this power. Through meditation and rigorous training, humans were able to manipulate the planes of existence to cross from plane to plane."

"What, like Back to the Future?" Kenzi asked.

"No," he smiled softly. "Shadow dwellers can't alter time. However, they can jump from one plane of existence, or 'realm' to another." He put his palms up and faced them towards each other in front of her, but stopped his palms from pressing together, leaving a centimeter or two between them. "There are other worlds just like ours that are parallel to our timeline. When you get that sensation that someone is watching you, or deja vu, or when you see something in the corner of your eye, it is the fabric between those two worlds becoming so thin that for the briefest moments, the two worlds merge." He moved his hands together to show her.

"So we're basically seeing things that are 'on the other side' so to speak?" she asked, trying to keep up.

"Basically." He agreed, "Sometimes when that fabric is too thin, things can cross from one world to another. We call that other world the 'Shadow Realm'."

"Any only humans can learn how to bar-hop between realms? Awesome!" She shouted.

"No Kenzi," he corrected laughing. "Some fae can do this as well. However, there are a select group of humans, like the monks, who have learned to train their minds to do this as well. Most fae can't 'Shadow Dwell', their nature won't allow it. Humans however, are basically a blank slate. With enough training and dedication, a human could essentially cross from this realm to the Shadow realm."

"No offense D-Man," she said. "But anything called the 'Shadow Realm' does not exactly sound like the safest place for humans. And really, what good could 'realm hopping' really be?" Her hands flew up into the air. "What I really need to learn is to shoot fire out of my hands. "Like 'pow', 'boom', 'pshhh'!" She popped out her hands, throwing imaginary fireballs and lighting up imaginary fae with her 'flamethrower'.

"It helps, trust me." He drew her attention back to him, "Let's say a fae had you by the throat. you can't move, can't breathe. Your lungs are burning and your head is pounding. You see darkness creeping up in your eyes as everything goes does dark…"

She gulped.

"If you were able to use your mind to thin the fabric between our world and the Shadow Realm, you could pull yourself out of this realm and into that one. It would look almost the same. Most people say that it is the exact copy of this world except there is little light." He watched her eyes grow wide with excitement.

"So I would basically disappear, pop into that world, grab a nice dagger laying around and pop back in behind the face and stab him in the neck?" She jumped up off the mat in excitement and played out her scenario, fighting an imaginary fae.

"In theory," he told her. "There are risks though, Kenzi."

She settled herself back down on the mat. "Like what exactly?" She gasped. "Would I have bad hair in the Shadow world?"

He shook his head. "Probably not. But there are creatures that are in that other realm that aren't here. Under Fae, spirits, trapped souls, and a lot of other dangerous things." He told her. "That's why we need to train your body as well as your mind. You need better fighting skills, to prepare you for these situations."

"You're going to train me to be all badass like Bo?" She asked skeptically.

"No," he replied. "I'm going to train you to be badass like Kenzi."

* * *

"You called them Shadow Dwellers earlier." She reminded him. "Is that different from a Shadow Thief?"

Dyson had her doing some light strength training with free weights. She already felt the burn in her arms after just a few reps. Years of dancing when she was younger had conditioned her legs to be toned perfectly. But upper body strength had never been a goal of hers.

Her personal trainer was a few feet in front of her doing one armed push-ups. And once again, he was shirtless. He was also one of the only people she knew who worked out in jeans. But she certainly wasn't complaining, she thought, checking out his firm ass.

He looked up at her to check her form every few push-ups. Making sure her legs were still spread shoulder length apart, that her back wasn't hunched, that she wasn't over-extending her arm. Not to mention he was enjoying the exposed view of her cleavage rising and falling with each curl of her arm.

"Over the years, Shadow Dwelling became less about self-defense, and more about personal gain." Dyson told her. "Humans began using their learned talent to rob, steal from businesses, stalk unsuspecting people." He switched arms and began his push-ups again. "Fae began to refer to them as 'Shadow Thieves'. It's the more common term for it."

"Think of all the shoes I could steal," she eyes grew wide as she thought of all the possibilities. She stopped her reps.

Dyson frowned and stood up. Walking over to her he gripped her arms and forced Kenzi to look up at him.

"Listen to me closely Kenzi," he growled. "Shadow Dwelling is _very_ dangerous. Do you know why you haven't heard about this until recently?" She looked up at him, her eyes wide in surprise at his fierce expression. "Because just about anyone who knew how to do 'dwell', _is dead now._"

"From the creatures on the other side?"

"Or because they got stuck on the other side." He informed her.

"I could get stuck there?!" She growled at him, dropping her free weight to the side, she pushed his chest, without him budging, though he dropped his arms from her. "Why would you teach me something that is going to get me killed?!"

"Because Kenzi," he growled, "with the right training and dedication, and with a _pure_ heart, it is perfectly safe."

"And you think _I'm _pure?!" She asked incredulously, turning around and storming away from him. "Have you met me?"

He rushed after her a spun her around.

"I've been _inside_ of you Kenzi. I know you." He growled gripping her face.

Her eyes dilated at the image the words brought to her mind. She glanced down at his lips, mere inches away from her, in response. The muscles in his jaw ticked and she wanted to run her fingers along the flexing muscles.

"I was in your body, Kenzi." He said softer. "I know exactly the kind of person you are. And trust me, you are even more pure than you know."

She swallowed, trying to calm her hormones that were suddenly coursing through her veins. Her body was aching for something that her heart was afraid to want. Dyson had this way of looking right into her soul and seeing only the good there. It made her want to crawl into his arms and stay there. She wanted that feeling all of the time; him looking at her like the only woman he saw. But she knew that his heart belonged to Bo. She reminded herself that wanting him, would only lead to heartbreak.

Dyson watched her eyes grow wide in wonder, before she closed off her emotions from him.

"I think you're seeing things, old man," she said lightly, pulling away from him and walking back over to the weights she had dropped. "You should get your eyes checked."

He watched her turn away from him and lift the weights up and out by her sides, tricepts and shoulders flexing, and promised himself to work on breaking through her walls.


End file.
